Adam Shankman Talks Hairspray 2

“We just got an outline and some ideas from John Waters, and now we’re going out to writers,” director Adam Shankman tells EW exclusively. The story will follow Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) and her pals as they navigate the “next era of music,” the late ’60s. “That period was superpolitical,” Shankman adds, “it was a time of serious change.” No kidding: According to the filmmaker, heartthrob Link (Zac Efron) will channel his inner Austin Powers and become steeped in the British Invasion. “We’re trying to track, in a comedic way, the historical elements.”